Improvement in portable fences



S. BRYAN.

Portable Fence.

No. 50,446. Patented Oct- 17. 1865.

. nan 6355 N. PETERS. PhaIv-umn n mr. Walhingibn. D. C.

UNITED STATES P TENT OFFICEQ SAMUEL BRYAN, on JEFFERSON, WIsooNsIN.

IMPROVEMENT IN PORTABLE FENCES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 50,446, dated October17, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL BRYAN, of Jefferson, in the county of Greenand State of lSCOUSlil,l18X6 invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Portable Fences; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, making part ofthis specification, in which- Figure 1 isa front elevation of my improved fence, and Fig. 2 is a top-plan view ofthe same.

The nature of my invention consists in uniting the panels of a movablefence by means of staples and keys, and in a novel manner of supportingthe same.

To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use my improvedfence, I will proceed to describe it.

1 construct the panels of boards 0, nailed at one end to a post, A, ofsufficient length to be set in the earth, and at the opposite end to apiece of board, B, the length of the board B being only equal to thewidth of the panel, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. A similar piece ofboard, 0, is nailed across the center ofthe panel to give it strengthand hold the boards 0 firml y in place. A strong staple, a, projectsfrom the face of the postAin such a position as to protrude throughbetween the two central boards, 0, where the adjoining ends of twopanels arelapped, as shown in Fig. 1. This staple is made of such alength that it will project through far enough to permit the insertionof a wedge-shaped key, I), on the side opposite to the post A, as shownin the drawings.

The key should be of such size and length as to fill the staple and haveits ends rest against the face of the two central boards at least, bywhich means the two panels arefirmly locked together.

If itbe desired to make the fence very strong,

two staples may be used, one being placed near the top and the othernearthe bottom,in which case the key I) should be sufficiently long toreach through both staples and rest against the face of all the boards 0of the panel.

I support the fence by inserting the lower ends of the posts into holesin the blocks 0, and fasten them there by means of the wedges e.

In cases where it is desired to move the fence frequently, or where theground is stony, and it is difficult to bore holes for the posts, theblocks 0 are to be used; but in cases where it is desirable to retainthe fence in position for a considerable time, as in the case of agrowing crop, the blocks are dispensed with and the posts inserted inholes bored with a post-auger in the ground, the wedges being driveninto the hole by the side of the post, the same as though the blockswere used. As there is but a single post to a panel this can be donewith very little labor and expense, especially on the prairie soil ofthe est.

To remove the fence it is only necessary to remove the wedges, when itcan be taken down and transferred wherever needed.

By these means I am enabled to produce a very simple, cheap, andefficient fence that can be put up and taken down without the use ofnails or tools of any kind.

The construction of my improved fence is such that it can be prepared atthe shop or by the farmer at home and conveyed wherever desired, readyto be set up.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is The panelsconstructed and united in, the manner shown and described.

SAMUEL BRYAN.

Witnesses J. W. SHARRARD, HOWARD HUNT.

